“I know. And believe me, I wished the situation would have been different. I’d hated every moment of secrecy, of pretending Anna was nothing but a job when she was my everything. I’d never understood why my dad hadn’t even dated a woman years after my mother’s death, why he refuses to this day to marry again. I hadn’t understood the love he’d felt toward my mother and that he still feels for her. But now that I have Anna, I understand what it means to lose someone you love. When I’d thought Anna would marry Clifford out of duty to the Outfit, I’d been sure I could never fall for another woman again.”
I paused, realizing that Dante too had lost his first wife and had then married Valentina. Had I put my foot in my mouth again? Anna would say it was my biggest talent, and I was starting to believe she was right.
Dante was watching me intently, his cold blue eyes making me feel very on the spot. I rarely gave a shit what other people thought of me. But Dante held Anna’s and my future in his hands. “You and Anna could have run off together while you were in France. It would have taken a while for me to become suspicious and by then you could have found a hiding place.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Anna would never leave her family, not even for me, and I’d never ask her to do it. And I wouldn’t leave my dad and sister either. Our family had already suffered enough and I wouldn’t add to that. Not to mention that I was absolutely loyal to the Outfit. “That was never an option,” I said firmly. “Anna and I have one big thing in common, our love for our family, and our pride for the Outfit.”
I could tell that Dante believed me and that my answer had mollified him the tiniest bit. Maybe he’d been worried that I was ripping Anna away from him and the family.
“I want to keep doing my duty to the Outfit. I’d never run. And I want to become part of your family. No matter what you ask of me, I’ll do it. I’ll prove my loyalty to you, Anna, and the Outfit over and over again if I have to.”
“I expect nothing less,” Dante said. “First, you can help me contain the damage that was caused today. I think your past endeavors might be helpful in this regard.”
Anna must have told her father about my affair with Dolora. “Maybe.”
“Maybe you can talk sense into him,” Enzo greeted me when I stepped into Santino’s hospital room two days after my wedding blew up.
Santino was trying to pull a hoodie over his head but his bandages and the injuries covered by it made it difficult. I handed Enzo a cup of coffee, which I’d brought him yesterday as well. “What’s going on?”
“Santino decided to release himself from the hospital against the explicit orders of the doctors.”
Santino finally managed to shove one arm into a sleeve and gave his father an annoyed look. “Santino is a grownup and prefers to heal at home.”
I headed over to him and gave him a peck. Kissing him in front of others still felt strange but at the same time so wonderfully freeing. “Isn’t it too risky?”
Santino waved me off. “I can handle it.”
I helped him into his hoodie, knowing full well it was useless to argue with him if he’d made up his mind. He was stubborn as a mule.
“Not to mention that Dante requires my help to contain the scandal Anna and her mother caused,” he said with a wink at me.
“Excuse me? You were involved in the scandal too.”
“But I would have chosen a better moment to stop the wedding.”
“I doubt it,” Enzo and I said simultaneously. We exchanged a look and smile. My heart expanded, glad he and I were finally making peace.
“What do you mean, my dad needs you?” I asked. Dad hadn’t mentioned anything to me, which probably meant it was risky or something he considered dishonorable.
But the Clarks were furious and refused to talk so we needed to act. Clifford had ignored all of my calls and texts.
Santino gave me a grim smile. “I’ll help him handle the Clarks.”
Enzo’s expression pinched with disapproval.
“How?” I asked. “You can’t kill all of them.”
Santino lightly pinched my butt. Luckily the angle hid it from Enzo or I would have died from embarrassment. I slanted Santino a warning look, which he answered with a smirk. “I could, but I won’t.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“The photos you took when you caught me with Dolora Clark, I downloaded them to my cloud in case I ever needed them.”
“Perv.”
He smirked but quickly became serious again.
Realization widened my eyes. “You’re going to blackmail her?”